Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

State Highlights: Calif., Ore. Take Lead On Pharmacist-Prescribed Birth Control; Questions Linger About Montana Asbestos Contamination

A selection of health care stories from California, Oregon, Montana, the District of Columbia, Illinois, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina and Kansas.

The New York Times:
States Lead Effort To Let Pharmacists Prescribe Birth Control
Most Western countries require a doctor’s prescription for hormonal contraceptives like pills, patches and rings, but starting sometime in the next few months, women in California and Oregon will be able to obtain these types of birth control by getting a prescription directly from the pharmacist who dispenses them, a more convenient and potentially less expensive option than going to the doctor. Pharmacists will be authorized to prescribe contraceptives after a quick screening process in which women fill out a questionnaire about their health and medical histories. The contraceptives will be covered by insurance, as they are now. (Belluck and Tavernise, 11/22)

The Associated Press:
Amid Move To End Montana Cleanup, Some Asbestos Left Behind
Federal officials say their final analysis of a Montana community wracked by a deadly asbestos contamination shows a costly and much-criticized cleanup is working, even though some 700 properties have yet to be investigated and concerns linger over asbestos left behind. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has spent more than $540 million removing asbestos in and around the town of Libby in northwest Montana. The material came from a W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine that is now closed. Health workers have estimated that as many as 400 people have died and almost 3,000 have been sickened from exposure. Yet after a lengthy review of the health risks, the EPA said in a report issued Friday that people could continue to live in Libby and neighboring Troy without excessive exposure. (Brown, 11/21)

The Wall Street Journal:
Case On Health Risk From Cellphones Is Back In Court
Alicia Mitchell was 15 years old when her father sued Motorola Inc., alleging the company’s cellphones caused his brain tumor. She’ll turn 30 in February and the lawsuit is still winding its way through court. ... So far, the cases have mostly been a battle over legal procedure, not science. Ms. Mitchell’s father’s lawsuit, Murray v. Motorola, faces another test Tuesday when the sides argue over what legal standard should be applied when evaluating evidence brought by scientists. (Knutson, 11/22)

The Chicago Tribune:
Rush Plans $500M Outpatient Center
Rush University Medical Center said it plans to build a $500 million outpatient facility as part of a significant reconfiguration of its Near West Side campus. The academic medical center said it is in the early stages of developing a master plan, which also calls for demolishing student housing to the east of its butterfly-shaped hospital along the Eisenhower Expressway and redeveloping land the organization is buying from Malcolm X College on the north side of the highway. (Sachdev, 11/20)

The Associated Press:
Reservation Loses Funding For Suicide Prevention Program
The only suicide prevention outreach program on a South Dakota Indian reservation where at least 20 people have killed themselves this year will end in December due to lack of funding, tribal officials said Friday. The move comes after a federal agency denied the Oglala Sioux Tribe's application for a grant that would have paid for the program on the Pine Ridge reservation for five more years. A copy of the application obtained by The Associated Press shows the tribe was seeking more than $3.6 million for a revamped program. However, federal officials rated the application poorly. (Garcia Cano, 11/20)

The Associated Press:
Homicides Of Transgender Women In US Reach Alarming High
For a few transgender Americans, this has been a year of glamour and fame. For many others, 2015 has been fraught with danger, violence and mourning. While Caitlyn Jenner made the cover of Vanity Fair and Laverne Cox prospered as a popular actress, other transgender women have become homicide victims at an alarming rate. By the count of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, there have been 22 killings so far this year of transgender or gender-nonconforming people — including 19 black or Latina transgender women. (Crary, 11/21)

WBUR:
Mass. Moves To Adjust Controversial Medical Marijuana Testing Standards
There are currently four medical marijuana dispensaries open in Massachusetts — in Salem, Brockton, Northampton and Ayer. But patients aren’t able to buy the full 10 ounces every 60 days that is allowed by state law because most of the marijuana grown by these facilities is not passing state testing standards, which dispensaries say are too strict and not realistic. Now the state is proposing a fix. (Bebinger, 11/20)

The Associated Press:
Medical Providers Get Grants For Rural 'Telemedicine'
Three rural health care providers in Michigan will receive federal grants for equipment and technology to reach people without easy access to doctors or hospitals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing the funding through its Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program, which helps doctors have video consultations with patients in different locations. (11/21)

Georgia Health News:
Blue Cross Keeps Big Edge In State Benefit Plan
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia will again have a dominant share of members and dependents in Georgia’s state employee and teacher health plan in 2016. The state’s largest health insurer will serve more than 75 percent of State Health Benefit Plan members next year with its various health plans. (Miller, 11/20)

The Detroit Free Press:
Wayne County Retirees Face Big Health Care Bills
Confusion, frustration, anger. Some Wayne County retirees injured on the job say they are grappling with all three as they prepare for life without county-provided health care coverage, a reality forced by the county’s efforts to cut costs in the face of its financial emergency. But these retirees also say they feel betrayed, because some will be getting the county’s lowest stipend — $100 per month before taxes — to defray the cost of health insurance, which could cost them hundreds of dollars per month. The county says 4,000 retirees qualify for the Retiree Stipend Program, which was crafted based on a legal settlement. (Lawrence, 11/22)

The Charlotte Observer:
Charlotte's First Non-Hospital Birthing Center Debuts
Elizabeth Brooks delivered her first baby in a hospital. But for the second, due in January, she and her husband, Erik, wanted a more homelike setting, with a nurse midwife attending the birth. They’ve signed up to use Charlotte’s first non-hospital-based birth center, which opens this weekend on Providence Road, about a block from Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center. (Garloch, 11/21)

The Associated Press:
Chipotle Linked To More E. coli Cases In More States
An outbreak of E. coli linked to Chipotle that originated in the Pacific Northwest has spread south and east and has now infected people in six states. New cases have been reported in California, New York and Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The first cases were discovered late last month in Oregon and Washington, and more recently in Minnesota. (11/22)

Heartland Health Monitor:
Wyandotte County, KCMO Approve Higher Tobacco Age
The movement to make 21 the legal age for purchasing tobacco products throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area netted two of the region’s largest municipalities Thursday. In a move designed to make a big splash, elected officials in Kansas City, Mo., and the Unified Government (UG) of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., voted within hours of each other to increase the legal age from 18. (Sherry, 11/21)

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